


i found

by brokenlikeastitch



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Harry Potter AU, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor Character Death, Theo Raeken-centric, let's have some faith in slytherin shall we, no major character deaths because i said so, overcoming stereotypes except the sudden murder really isn't helping, there's some violence but if you watched teen wolf you'll be fine
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-18 09:40:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29731932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brokenlikeastitch/pseuds/brokenlikeastitch
Summary: It was then that the door to the Gryffindor common room flew open and half asleep students walked out, trying to figure out what the noise was. Scott was first, and he almost tripped when he saw them all standing around her. His eyes scanned the crowd, skipping over them at first before his gaze snapped back. Allison tensed and Theo realized he was looking at her, something akin to horror on his face.For a few long seconds, no one said anything, the sleepy Gryffindor students starting to wake up enough to realize what they thought they’d just walked out on. Jackson let out a low whistle as he took them in, scared but defensive, hovering over the young Slytherin student, wands in hand, illuminating the pooling blood in a particularly gruesome way.Glaring at Jackson for a split second, Scott slowly turned back to face them, “What did you do?”
Relationships: Allison Argent/Scott McCall, Corey Bryant/Mason Hewitt, Liam Dunbar/Theo Raeken, Lydia Martin/Stiles Stilinski, Malia Tate/Kira Yukimura
Comments: 4
Kudos: 26





	i found

**Author's Note:**

> hi so this is me writing the things i'd like to see in the world.
> 
> this is a post-voldemort world, pretty close to canon events. except all the hogwarts teachers have been replaced with the teen wolf adults and i took a lot of creative liberties. i think i have the right to though because jk rowling can choke.
> 
> huge thanks to my two friends who helped me plan this out and read through everything to make sure it sounded good and consistent, you guys are the best!

_Hogwarts Express - Slytherin Compartment_ _  
__September 1, 2011  
_ _4:00 p.m._

The view outside the window was blurred green, and Theo rested his head against the glass, open book in his lap abandoned, tired from the early morning trip to the platform. Everyone was quiet, preparing for the onslaught of other wizards they’d soon have to interact with when they made it onto Hogwarts grounds. The compartment was full of the same people since Theo’s third year, the group falling into place, mostly from similar temperaments, but also the thirst to prove themselves.

“Malia,” Brett finally snapped, “for the love of god, _sit down_.”

Even Theo winced at her glare when she whirled on Brett, and he swore the temperature in the room got lower from the ice in her tone when she answered, “Some of us are _stressed_ , Brett. _You_ don’t have to pass a test to schedule your classes.”

Rolling his eyes, unaffected, he returned, “You’re going to wear a hole in the floor if you keep pacing. Besides, you had Theo and Allison as tutors, I highly doubt you failed.”

Allison looked up from the book she was reading, amused, and kicked at Malia’s leg playfully, “Yeah, are you doubting our tutoring capabilities?”

Malia huffed and sat down on the bench next to her, “No. I just,” she paused and picked at her fingernails, “I’m worried. I don’t want to get behind.”

Hayden snorted, “Don’t want to be with me and Brett?”

“The day I _choose_ to spend time with Brett, check me into St. Mungos.”

Brett leered and flipped her off, and Theo knew what he was doing, trying to distract her enough to not worry about her scores. Theo was pretty confident that she’d passed, Malia never gave herself enough credit when it came to academics, and in his opinion she was one of the brightest students in their year despite getting a late start. 

Fortunately, it worked, and when the train stopped, she’d toned her anxiety down to bouncing her leg. Allison wrapped an arm around her waist, “Don’t worry, even if you failed, _which you didn’t_ , I’ll take care of it.”

And Theo believed her. Allison had some pull, her family was _powerful,_ and he knew the headmaster would absolutely strongly consider an Argent’s ‘recommendation’ no matter what Malia got on the O.W.L.s. Malia believed her too, she relaxed fully, standing up to pull her tie out of her half opened bag.

“You know,” Josh mused, hands tucked in his pants pockets, robe slung around his shoulders instead of being worn properly, “if anyone fails the O.W.L.s, it’s McCall.”

Erica laughed, head tossed back, “Sweetheart,” she started, looking straight at Josh, “he got Allison’s help too. No way he failed.”

“Allison sold out,” Brett crowed, nudging her knee, “to some Gryffindor with puppy dog eyes.”

Rolling her eyes, Allison scoffed, “Don’t act like you wouldn’t drop everything for a certain Hufflepuff.”

“Yeah, yeah, you guys are all whipped for guys in other houses who refuse to commit and aren’t good enough for _any of you_ ,” Hayden cut in, “I just can’t believe we’re already talking about it and we haven’t even made it onto castle grounds.”

“Fine,” Erica sassed, “we’ll wait until we cross the boundary.”

Hayden sighed and muttered, “Gross,” but followed the rest of them out of the compartment, hand tucked through Erica’s offered arm. 

_Great Hall  
_ _September 2, 2011  
_ _7:20 a.m._

The line of hopeful sixth years was quiet, the combination of the early morning and nerves about test scores keeping normally loud voices subdued. Theo and Allison got there first, and he handed her a cup of coffee which she took with a grateful smile. 

“Ready?” she asked after a sip.

He hummed, “Yeah. Just ready to get this show on the road.”

Allison nodded before staring over his shoulder and tensing. Theo knew exactly who’d walked into the room by the change in her facial expression alone, much less the stiffness and the tight grip she had on his wrist, but he played along and turned to glance himself.

She squeezed his wrist and hissed, “Don’t look,” yanking him closer to the wall. Scott made his way through the room, Stiles by his side, and he took up space. It was why Theo believed Scott and Allison would never work, where Scott grabbed attention, _liked_ attention even, Allison avoided it. They all did, it wasn’t their fault really, Brett always joked that people forgot about Slytherin house as soon as they weren’t a threat.

Josh joined them next, tie loosened and a piece of toast hanging out of his mouth. Grinning around it he winked at Allison and offered his fist for Theo to bump. Theo rolled his eyes but bumped it anyway, moving over a bit for him to stand.

“Good morning to both of my favorite nerds,” Josh finally spoke after grabbing the toast, “hope you slept well, Allison.”

“I slept fine,” she muttered, already knowing where he was about to go.

“That’s good,” Josh smirked, leaning against the wall, and nudged her with his elbow, “but I bet you’d sleep even better in my bed.”

He’d barely finished before Erica walked up and slapped him upside the head, “Don’t be gross before 8 a.m., Diaz.”

“You know I like it rough, Reyes.”

Theo stopped paying attention, knowing the two would argue for at least five minutes. He suspected it was mostly nerves, none of them wanted to be held back, and Erica and Josh’s bickering was soothing background noise. Allison cut them short, earlier than expected, making a hurt noise low in her throat.

“What’s wrong?” Erica asked, head snapping over in her direction.

But Allison wasn’t paying attention to them. She was looking over Theo’s shoulder in the direction he knew Scott was standing. Theo wasn’t sure what put that ugly look on her face, but Allison looked _hurt_ and Theo was ready to _fight_. 

Josh stood up straight too, Theo always forgot how tall he was with how slouched he always sat, and glared at Scott. He knew Allison probably wouldn’t want them all to look, but he couldn’t resist, and Theo spun on his heel, only to catch Scott with his arm around a Hufflepuff girl’s shoulder.

“Who’s that?” Erica asked, and Theo also wanted to know. She looked familiar, but he couldn’t place it. Josh shrugged, taking another bite of his toast with the glare still firmly on his face as Allison practically crumpled next to him.

“Doesn’t matter who she is, McCall is the one we hit,” he muttered, wiping a hand on his robe, “I’ve been waiting _so long_ for this day.”

“Since when have Scott and Kira been a thing?” Malia asked, walking up late as usual. She was practically vibrating, hands even shaking as she tried to relax. Theo shrugged in response to her question, and they all went silent again, Allison desperately trying to stop looking over at them.

“I don’t know,” she finally answered, “we talked a lot this summer, but he never mentioned it.”

Josh waved his hand as if he were trying to sweep them away and looked at Allison uncharacteristically seriously, “Fuck him. He used you to pass his O.W.L.s and now you’re going to ghost his ass when he asks for help on the N.E.W.T.s.”

She shook her head and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and when Allison met their eyes, hers were a little red and glassy, “I feel stupid. We weren’t exclusive or anything. I just, it felt like there was something there.”

“You can date me to make him jealous,” Josh offered, only half serious.

Laughing, she rolled her eyes and shoved his shoulder good naturedly, “No one would be jealous, Josh, we both know that.”

“Offer’s open,” Josh answered, taking the last bite of his toast, “we could make him rue the day.”

“Slytherin house is always up to no good, huh?” an annoying voice interrupted. Theo ground his teeth and repressed his groan of annoyance as Jackson forced his way into the circle and continued talking, not giving any of the Slytherins a chance to answer, “Didn’t know you knew words like rue, Diaz.”

“Some of us read, Jackson,” Josh practically growled at him, fists clenched.

Jackson hummed, amused, “Yeah, but I didn’t know _you_ could read,” before turning to elbow Allison, “Ready for alchemy? If there’s partner work, we should definitely pair up.”

“Theo’s taking it too,” Allison told him, stepping away, “and so is Erica. So I’ll have plenty of partner options.”

Theo tried to hold in his snort, but Josh had no such reservations. He looked around Allison, faux concerned look on his face, “That means get lost, Jackson. Just in case your apparently superior reading skills don’t extend to reading the room.” 

“Thanks,” Allison told them, voice low, finally relaxing when he walked away, “I hate him.”

Malia scrunched her nose, “Okay but do people actually like him? Because I’ve seen no evidence of that.”

“Seconding,” Josh jumped in.

Theo reluctantly raised his hand, “Thirding it, actually.”

Erica shrugged, “I’d be four, but Lydia did.”

Josh scoffed, “Yeah, like third and fourth year. He’s become far less likable since then.”

Theo’s lip twitched, “Ravenclaw smarts kicked in and she finally realized what an asshole he is.”

“I would’ve loved to be a fly on the wall in that conversation,” Erica added, a faraway look in her eye, “I bet someone cried.”

“You would’ve loved that,” Malia affirmed, “I would’ve too.”

“Speaking of Lydia,” Allison trailed off, looking around, “where is she?”

“Probably already in class,” Theo answered, “I’m sure she’s already gotten her results. Perks of headmaster mom.”

“Some bullshit,” Malia groaned, “haven’t they tortured us enough?”

And just as she finished speaking, Headmaster Martin walked into the room, heels clacking, and a thick stack of envelopes under arm. She waited until it was silent, all eyes on her, to speak, “I have results sorted by house, your schedule based on what you signed up for last spring is attached to the back of your results page. We have a breakfast spread prepared before you all have to go to class, so please, help yourself, and I hope you’ll all continue working hard to further your studies.”

“Further your studies,” Josh mocked under his breath. Allison swatted at him to quiet him, and he just grinned, sliding out of her reach to stand on the other side of Erica. 

“Coward,” Erica laughed, and he shrugged shamelessly, tugging at his tie. 

They waited while eager students rushed the table to sort through their houses’ envelopes, not wanting to get caught up. Theo saw Allison watching Scott, and she nodded when he gave Isaac a high five, both of them clearly passing. When it cleared a bit, Erica fought her way to the front to grab all their envelopes. 

Josh ripped into his carelessly, hand reaching for his tie again as his eyes skimmed the results. He grinned, “Genius hours. Get fucked, Jackson.”

Allison was next, she opened her envelope much more carefully and nodded after reading her paper. Erica ruffled her hair, “To literally no one’s surprise. Theo, you next.”

So he opened his. The paper started _Congratulations Theo Raeken_ and he knew he passed. Josh watched his face and held his fist out for Theo to bump for the second time that morning, “Let’s go, baby.”

Erica went fourth, opening hers just as elegantly as Allison before shutting her eyes in what looked like relief, “I was pretty sure I passed, but holy shit do I feel better now.”

“Malia,” Theo drawled, and the group turned to her. She was standing there, envelope crumpled, as she tapped her fingers against her leg, the only physical indicator of her nerves. Holding it out to Theo, she spoke with a slight shake in her voice, “You read it, I can’t.”

So he did. Taking it out of her hand, Theo tore the envelope open, pulling the papers out, eyes never leaving her face. Malia reached out to hold onto his wrist as he read aloud her passing scores. There was no other way to describe her face other than _elated._

“Told you,” Theo gloated as Malia clutched his wrist, and snatched the test scores out of his hand to read herself, “and now you owe me a drink whenever we go to the Three Broomsticks.”

“I’ll buy you anything,” she breathed, a smile on her face as she flipped to look at her schedule. 

The group had scheduled their classes together. After studying for the O.W.L.s, they realized how well they studied together and figured it would be in everyone’s best interest to just stick together. 

“Food and then Ancient Runes?” Josh asked, peering down at this schedule, “the fuck does Ancient Runes entail? That sounds boring.”

Allison shrugged, picking up a muffin from the table, “It’s like a foreign language class and history all combined in one.”

“God, what did I let you assholes get me into. Next year, Allison isn’t picking classes. Me and Malia are taking the reins.”

“Malia and I,” Theo corrected with a smirk.

“Fuck both of you, I’m unfriending you all.”

Erica shoved his arm, “Then who are you going to sit with?”

“I can find someone,” Josh insisted, “you guys drag me down as it is.”

Malia scoffed at him, finally seeming back to her confident self since she’d seen the passing results, “You couldn’t last a day without us.”

“I could,” Josh’s voice was meant to sound steady, but Theo could hear the slight waver.

“Wanna put some money on it?” Erica asked, crossing her arms with an evil-looking grin on her face.

Josh hesitated and Theo knew he was debating between his pride and proving them wrong, and his worry about being left alone on a day they had three classes. His pride won out first, “Sure. 20 galleons I could go a whole day avoiding all of you.”

Before he could shake with Erica, Theo cleared his throat, “That includes Brett and Hayden at lunch.”

Swearing under his breath, Josh nodded, “Fine.”

“You’re going to sit alone in Potions?” Allison asked incredulously.

Josh’s mouth twitched and Theo thought it was over before it began, but he straightened up, tightened his tie, and swiped a cup of juice off the table in front of them, “I’ll make friends.”

“Peter is going to eat you for lunch,” Erica told him bluntly, “it was nice knowing you, Diaz.”

He gulped, grip tightening around the cup, “I’ll be okay.” It sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than anything, and when potions rolled around after lunch, he lasted five minutes sitting alone before he caved and slid into the seat next to Theo, smiling sheepishly, “Hey partner.”

 _Courtyard  
_ _October 16, 2012  
_ _3:20 p.m._

“Care of Magical Creatures is such a stupid class,” Brett groaned, glaring at the textbook on the ground next to him. Hayden nudged it with her foot and nodded, agreeing with him silently. Theo watched them complain, Potions essay completely abandoned as all three of them soaked in the warm afternoon weather.

“Of course, Liam is good at it,” Hayden complained, fist tightening as she spoke. She’d mostly moved on from their incident first year when Liam jinxed her during class, but she still wasn’t very fond of him. He’d said it was an accident, but Hayden had a broken nose and wasn’t feeling too forgiving.

“You know, that doesn’t surprise me,” Theo mused, “he seems the type.”

“Who seems what?” a voice asked behind them, causing all three to jump and whirl around at the same time. Liam was standing, blocking the sun, and Theo scowled, shoving him out of the light. When no one answered, he asked again, voice a little whinier, “Who are you guys talking about?”

“None of your business, Liam. This is an A, B, C conversation,” Brett drawled, arms crossed in front of him.

Liam rolled his eyes, “That’s not how the saying goes.”

“Children,” Theo interrupted dryly before a fight could break out, “please, I’m trying to relax before I have to hole myself up in the library to finish this stupid essay on poison anecdotes.”

“You’re in potions?” Liam asked, perking up, “Do you think you could help me, I’m struggling this year. Peter’s cracking down and I can’t keep up.”

“It’s because we have to be ready for the O.W.L.,” Hayden responded sarcastically, and Theo had to hold back a snort at the vaguely annoyed look that crossed Liam’s face. 

He let Liam stew for a few seconds then asked, “What are you going over?”

Liam made a face like he smelled something bad before looking over at Brett, whispering a quiet please. Brett rolled his eyes and pulled out his book, “Right now it’s the Draught of Peace.”

Theo let out a sympathetic noise, that was a tough one and he didn’t remember Peter throwing it at them near the beginning of the school year. He thought back to his old notebooks, tucked away under his mattress, full of notes he’d diligently copied from the parchment they normally wrote on during class, “Let’s meet at the library tomorrow night. I need to finish my essay tonight if I’m going to help you.”

Liam’s face _lit up_ and he was practically bouncing in place at Theo’s words. Nodding eagerly, he grabbed Theo’s shoulder, “Oh my god, thank you so much, Theo. I’ll make it up to you!”

“How?” Brett challenged and Theo kicked at his foot in warning. Huffing, Brett leaned back and glared at Theo, muttering, “Traitor,” under his breath.

“I help you guys with Potions all the time,” he reminded them as Liam scrambled up and jogged off to his friends across the courtyard.

“Yeah, but we’re different.”

Theo supposed that was true, they were his housemates. The people that really understood him and his motivations, but Liam was...Liam was something. He wasn’t sure exactly how to put it into words, so he tried to not think about it. 

“It’s because you like him,” Hayden accused, reaching out to smack him with her textbook, “which is so gross.”

He never tried to deny it anymore because he was pretty sure everyone in the castle knew but Liam himself. So instead of wasting time denying it, Theo simply decided to change the subject after ruffling Hayden’s hair. She yelped, shoving his hand away, and he turned to Brett, “Excited for practice to start back up?”

Brett smirked, happy to have moved on from the previous topics, “Oh fuck yes I am. It’s ours to lose this year.”

Theo nodded, thinking back to the year before after the last game of the year, he came down legs shaky and covered in sweat but victorious. The Slytherin quidditch team went undefeated, and the final game against Hufflepuff was a _blowout_ with how well they’d played.

“Jackson will be out for us this year, I think,” Theo spoke up, “I’m a little worried about them.”

“No need,” Brett waved his hand, “they wish they had our speed. Plus, their goalie is a second year. He’s going to get lit up.”

Scoffing, Theo leaned back on his hands, “No way McCall lets a second year get humiliated, so he must be good.”

“Scott wouldn’t, but Jackson absolutely would,” Hayden mused, “Jackson would probably encourage it, actually.”

“You’re probably right,” Theo admitted after a few seconds, “but McCall’s the captain.”

“Co-captain, actually,” someone interrupted from behind them again. Theo felt his blood heat up when he recognized Jackson’s voice, and before he could say anything, Hayden reached for his hand and _squeezed_. 

It was something she started doing when she needed comfort, they were both muggle-born, and Theo knew better than anyone how much Hogwarts could be at first, so when she felt overwhelmed, she reached for him. After a few months of it, they quickly came to realize it also helped Theo calm down. 

No one ever really commented on it, it was just a thing, Slytherin house was full of people who liked contact comfort, and admittedly, Theo never considered it wasn’t like that in every other house, but when he saw the look on Jackson’s face, he cringed. Jackson looked delighted, “Raeken, finally got yourself a girlfriend. Didn’t know you had it in you, man. Congrats.”

“I’m not his girlfriend,” Hayden responded, not giving Theo a chance to open his mouth, “not that it’s any of your business. Don’t you have some first years to bully or something?”

Brett snorted, running a hand through his hair before flicking his fingers toward the castle, “Run along, I’m not interested in being choked to death by the cloud of toxic masculinity that just follows you around.”

Jackson didn’t say anything else, just gave the trio an appraising look before walking away, much like Liam had before, toward a group of his friends on the opposite side of the courtyard. Hayden slowly loosened her grip and let his hand drop, and Theo flexed it, trying to shake feeling back into it.

“Sorry,” she muttered, watching him massage it gently.

Theo hummed, “You’re good. Thanks, by the way.”

She nodded, still staring at his reddened hand, and Brett nudged her, “Do you get the vibe that Jackson’s a little,” he trailed off, as if unsure how to continue.

While Theo didn’t know what he meant, Hayden did, and she cocked her head, watching him interact with the group of boys he’d joined. Blinking a few times, her jaw dropped and she whirled back around, “Holy fuck, Brett. I think you’re right.”

Theo was lost. He raised his eyebrows as the two made noises in lieu of actually speaking, “What are you guys talking about?”

“You know how sometimes when boys have a crush they’ll make fun of that person?” Hayden asked, practically bouncing in place as her eyes shone with amusement.

Narrowing his eyes, Theo nodded, “Yeah, like pulling on a girl’s pigtails, right?”

“Exactly,” Brett breathed, an amused look on his face, “and have you ever noticed that Jackson’s only a dick to other guys?”

“You’re telling me,” Theo paused, trying not to laugh at the absurd turn the conversation had taken, “that for all these years, Jackson’s had a crush on _Josh._ ”

Brett and Hayden gave him a look like he was the crazy one, which he thought was a bit unwarranted since it was their theory in the first place, and the one guy at Hogwarts that Jackson loved to fuck with was Josh. 

“No,” Brett dismissed, “I see what you mean, but I think it’s that guy.”

Theo leaned closer to follow his gaze and subtly pointed finger, only to find Jackson swatting at a boy’s hand, knocking his pen off the parchment every few seconds with a look on his face Theo had never seen before.

“Brett’s right,” Hayden nodded, “I can’t believe this. Who even is that?”

After a second look, Theo realized he recognized him. It was another Gryffindor in his year, but half the time Theo couldn’t be bothered to remember all their names if he never had to work with them directly. It took a few seconds of staring into space, trying to force the memory, for him to come up with a guess, “Fuck, it’s either Ethan or Aiden. They’re twins, and I can’t tell them apart.”

“Odds they’re together by the end of the year?” Brett asked, pulling a scrap of parchment off to write the bets down. Hayden hummed and looked back, tapping her bottom lip with her finger thoughtfully.

“School year or calendar year?” Theo asked, not wanting to get trapped by Brett’s love for keeping things intentionally vague.

Brett rolled his eyes, “Fine, school year.”

“High,” Hayden said, “the last day of term is the cut off?”

Loosening his tie, Brett’s face sobered up and he cracked his knuckles, “Okay, that might be low hanging fruit. Should we go for something more obscure?”

Theo leaned forward on his knees, interested, “Last quidditch match of the year? Isn’t it normally a Gryffindor game?”

Hayden snapped and pointed at Theo, “He’s right. So, sometime in May.”

Brett’s tongue stuck out a bit as he wrote the bet entailed and their names, and when he finished, he looked up at Theo, “Over, under, or break even?”

“I’m leaning toward break even, I think it’ll happen after the game.”

Nodding, Brett marked it down and looked back up at Hayden, “You?”

Hayden chewed on the inside of her cheek and twirled a strand of hair around her finger while she considered. Eventually coming to a decision, she told them, “Under, I think it’ll happen before then.”

“And just to be different, I’ll take the over,” Brett finished, “I say it’ll be over the summer or next year. Now sign your names and I’ll bring it to the wall.”

They did as he said, waving as he gathered his stuff and left the courtyard, headed in the direction of the dorms. Theo’s stomach growled next, causing Hayden to chuckle, and she started packing her bag up too. He followed suit, and when he finished, Hayden was already standing, hand out in front of her to help him up.

“Let’s go get some food, Theo. It’s close to 5, so I’m sure Josh is there already.”

“A creature of habit,” Theo agreed, amused at the thought of their friend almost always being the first into the Great Hall for dinner.

 _Library  
_ _October 17, 2012  
_ _8:35 p.m._

Liam was late, which would normally bother Theo. He was offering his time up for Liam, had stayed up late and done extra work the night before so he had more time to help Liam, and the boy couldn’t even be bothered to show him some consideration. But it didn’t bother him because it was Liam.

“God,” he muttered under his breath, pushing his glasses up a bit to rub his eyes underneath them. Theo met Liam during Liam’s first year, his second, when he was on an early morning run around the castle grounds. Both of them were looking down and almost slammed into each other, but Theo managed to dodge last minute. 

At first he was annoyed, but then Liam looked up at him, eyes wide, and smiled sheepishly, and Theo was fucking _gone_. He’d muttered out a quiet, “Sorry, man,” and Theo immediately waved him off.

“Partially my fault too, no worries.”

It was a little awkward, both of them shifting on their feet, unsure how to end the encounter without being rude. Liam broke the silence first, “So do you come here often?” immediately wincing once he finished speaking.

Theo snorted, “Do you mean to Hogwarts or on a run? Because I am a student here.”

“Run,” Liam answered, voice cracking a bit.

Taking pity on him, Theo responded good naturedly, “Every morning. It’s peaceful and I like to stop by the lake to think.”

Liam nodded eagerly and rocked back and forth on his heels, “Do you want to maybe meet up there sometimes?”

“Sure,” Theo responded without a second thought, surprising himself a bit. Usually he cherished the alone time, it could get overwhelming being around even his own housemates all the time, but he realized he didn’t really mind the idea of Liam being there with him. Something about the boy drew him in.

And since then, they met every morning outside the Slytherin dorms. Their runs varied in length but they always stopped by the lake to sit and soak in the sunrise. It was the most peaceful and grounded Theo felt every day, and he never got enough of the time they spent together. 

While the running had been going on for years, studying was a more recent development. They never really talked about academics, Theo knew Liam wasn’t the most fond, so he tried to steer clear of the topic, not wanting to upset his friend. But Liam overheard him debating a Herbology topic with Corey and asked him about it.

Theo wasn’t sure how to answer, so he decided to try and tell the truth, “I like school, and I’m pretty good at it.”

“So you mean to tell me that you’ve been super smart this whole time and instead of helping me, you’ve been keeping it to yourself?”

He’d be worried that Liam was actually mad, but his lips were twitching, trying to hold back a smile, so Theo relaxed. Shrugging, he bumped his shoulder into Liam’s, “Just because we’re friends doesn’t mean I have to offer my tutoring services for free.”

But he’d do anything for Liam, including help him with his work no matter how much of his own stuff he had to put off to do so. Spending time with Liam was just that important to him. His housemates picked up on it fast and mocked him pretty frequently, but he didn’t care. Any ounce of Liam’s attention he could get was worth the teasing.

“I am so sorry,” Liam startled him out of his thoughts, voice just a little too loud for the dark, quiet library.

Head shooting up to look at him, Theo shrugged, “It’s alright. Not like I had anything else to do.”

But Liam shook his head adamantly, “No, it was selfish, wasting your time, I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.” Which Theo knew was probably a lie. The only things Liam was consistently on time for were quidditch and their mornings together, anything school related was a tossup.

“I’m sure,” he snorted, pulling out his old notebooks and shoving his schoolwork that he’d been doing out of the way, “but it’s okay. Potions is easy to understand.”

“For you,” Liam grumbled, slouching in the chair across from Theo, face already looking defeated.

Theo kicked his shin lightly, not enough to hurt, and admonished, “Don’t be so discouraged already, we haven’t even started. Let me see the notes you have and tell me what you already understand.”

Liam sighed, a bit dramatically, and passed over his parchment. Theo, for the life of him, couldn’t figure out Liam’s note taking process. They were all over the place and full of incomplete thoughts and information. He must’ve been making a face because Liam snorted, gently tugging the parchment back over, “See what I mean?”

“This is worse than I expected,” Theo admitted, “but nothing we can’t get through tonight. I really think that once you realize how _exact_ the steps have to be followed, the easier time you’ll have trying to make it.”

“I’ve tried,” he groaned, “we made it three times and I can’t fucking figure it out.”

Theo pursed his lips and tapped his fingers on the table in thought, “First, we should talk about the potion itself, right? Once you realize what it’s supposed to do, the easier time you’ll have processing the steps.”

“Makes sense,” Liam nodded, resting his chin on his elbow and focusing fully on Theo, “I know it’s supposed to be blue and it helps relieve anxiety.”

“Turquoise to be exact,” Theo added, brushing a strand of hair away that had fallen into his eyes while he stared down at his notebook, “and it’s _really_ important that you get everything right because if even one thing is done wrong there are drastic consequences.”

Liam perked up, “Right! Adding too much can put someone in a really deep sleep.”

“That’s right,” Theo encouraged, “do you know the ingredients?”

“Powdered moonstone, syrup of hellebore, and,” he trailed off, eyebrows furrowed as he tried to remember. 

Theo decided to go to his rescue, “Powdered porcupine quills is the last one.”

Nodding eagerly, Liam wrote all that they’d gone over on a new piece of parchment, a lot neater. When Theo looked twice, he realized that Liam had looked at his notebook and was copying his structure. It made his heart stutter for a second, and he tried to shove it down, to focus for Liam’s benefit.

“Okay,” Liam set his pen down, “do you want to go over the steps or should I just copy them?”

“Up to you,” Theo told him, “I’ll do either. Whichever helps you learn better.”

“Can you read them and I’ll copy them?” Liam asked, voice a bit small.

Theo looked up at him, confused why he’d be hesitant, “Sure thing.” And he waited for Liam to pick the pen back up with a sigh before he started reading. Each one he read twice, Liam muttering it under his breath after Theo while copying it down, and once they made it through all 16, Liam was yawning and his chin was slipping out of his hand.

“Sorry,” he murmured, eyes fluttering.

“It’s okay,” Theo reassured, “we should call it a night.”

“Thank you Theo, you’re my favorite,” Liam whispered, their candle burning low.

Theo bit his lip _hard_ and tasted blood, trying desperately to keep his feelings off his face. Liam didn’t seem to notice, so he took a few extra seconds to collect himself. Eventually, he cleared his throat, “I can talk to Peter. See if we can get some time one night in the classroom to walk through the steps together.”

“I doubt it,” Liam slurred, words running together from exhaustion, “I think he hates me.”

Wiping blood off his bottom lip, Theo breathed out a laugh, “Yeah, but he likes me.”

“Teacher’s pet,” Liam teased, “but I would like to try with you, if Peter says yes.”

Theo nodded, “I’ll ask soon.”

For all that he was sleepy, Liam was still awake enough to pull Theo into a tight hug. The hug went on for a while, longer than Theo expected, and after about thirty seconds, he relaxed into it. It felt nice, he realized, not used to the closeness of anyone outside of Slytherin. And before he could dwell on it further, Liam was pulling away, picking up his stuff, and trudging away with a quiet, “Night, Theo.”

“Goodnight, Liam,” Theo answered, a few seconds too late.

 _Great Hall  
_ _October 20, 2012  
_ _6:25 p.m._

Dinner was always a loud affair, Theo’s group always sitting in the same corner, taking up the same space day in and day out, every meal. It started small, Theo, Allison, and Malia sitting together, all sorted the same year with the same quiet determination. And then Erica and Josh, the more social of the group plopped down during a study session and never left.

Brett and Hayden were the real socializers of the group. The younger two made friends in other houses, partially helped by the fact that Brett’s sister was in Ravenclaw. Theo will never forget the first time Lori plopped down next to him, a Hufflepuff named Tracy following after her slowly, and demanded to know all their names with a sharp, “I need to know who’s keeping my brother in check.”

The exact group that developed after that changed daily. Sometimes they had Lori’s friends sit with them, sometimes Liam showed up with his friends, and sometimes it was just Slytherin, though that was always mostly toward the beginning of the year. Younger students never trusted them, having grown up with their parents’ stories about how evil and twisted the Slytherin students were.

It was exhausting, having to break the stereotype repeatedly. Sometimes Theo wondered if it was even worth it, but then he would look at Liam or Lori laughing with them, at ease, and realize, yeah, it was worth it. 

That night, Liam joined him first, sitting down right next to him with an excited smile, and asked, breathlessly, “So, did you happen to ask Peter yet?”

“I did,” Theo answered, teasingly not giving him any further information.

Liam huffed, impatient, and tugged at his arm, “What did he say?”

“He said that we can use the classroom after hours once a week as long as you don’t blow anything up.”

With a scoff, Liam took an aggressive swig of his drink, “I won’t blow anything up.”

Theo raised his eyebrows, “You sure about that? Because he said, don’t let Liam blow something up _again,_ and if you do, I lose favorite student privileges.”

“Well we certainly can’t have that,” Liam retorted, mouth still tugged downward, but Theo saw the sparkle of repressed laughter in his eyes. When Theo didn’t respond to his taunt, Liam leaned in and dug his chin into Theo’s shoulder, looking for a reaction.

Grunting, Theo shrugged, trying to get the persistent younger boy out of his space, but nothing worked until Mason sat down across from them, an unreadable look on his face. He probably kicked Liam, that was Theo’s guess from the sudden jolt, at least, and asked, “Liam, what the hell are you doing?”

“Being annoying,” Theo answered drily for him.

Liam patted his cheek, “I’m never annoying.”

“Right,” Stiles drawled, sitting on Theo’s other side, “so that’s a lie.”

“Hey!” Liam protested, sitting up straight to lean around Theo and glare at Stiles, “no one asked you.”

“You’re really going to disrespect your mom like that?” Corey asked, sitting down on Mason’s left, and Stiles squawked.

“I’m his dad, if anything,” he defended.

Theo and Mason snorted, and Mason rebutted, “No, Scott is his dad.”

“Hold on,” Liam interrupted, “I have parents. They’re great.”

“Your Hogwarts parents,” Theo corrected, patting Liam’s shoulder, “not to discredit your actual parents.”

“Justice for Jenna and David,” Corey tossed in, chewing on a carrot while watching on, amused.

Stiles opened his mouth to protest again, but Malia sat down, forcing her way between Theo and Stiles, glaring when he opened his mouth to say something.

“I have to talk to Theo,” she told Stiles, “and you’re in my way.”

He muttered something about rude ass Slytherins under his breath and Theo rolled his eyes, turning to Malia, “Yes?”

“I need help,” she started, not elaborating at all and tone of voice giving nothing away.

“With what?” he asked, trying to get a read on her facial expression.

Stiles grinned, “With what? Hiding a body?”

Liam groaned, “Shut up, Stiles.”

“What?” he threw his hands up, “it’s a totally valid question. No one knows what you guys get up to in that dark little basement of yours.”

“Lots of murder,” Allison answered, voice dripping with sarcasm as she sat down on Mason’s right, directly across from Theo. She looked at Malia curiously, “Have you asked him yet?”

“I’m trying but Stiles interrupted.”

“Ask me,” Theo insisted before Stiles could butt in again.

“Okay, we want to get into the restricted section of the library to do research for Ancient Runes, but we don’t know how,” Malia rushed out.

Theo frowned, it didn’t seem like such a big favor, and he had access to it mostly thanks to the amount of time he spent in there, “Sure, yeah, get me a list of books you want and I’ll go grab them.”

“You’re the best,” Allison answered, wide smile on her face.

“Yeah, yeah,” Theo deflected, cheeks heating up at all the attention suddenly on him, “but you can’t take them out of the library.”

“Swear, we won’t,” Malia promised, making a cross over her heart.

It was quiet for a bit while everyone ate until Stiles broke it, “So Theo is the plug, is that what I’m hearing?”

“Yes,” Liam answered enthusiastically at the exact same time as Theo’s exasperated denial. Rolling his eyes, Liam nudged Theo with his shoulder, “Theo’s super clutch, I’m telling you, can count on him for anything.”

Theo’s jaw dropped as he tried to find the right response, involuntarily speechless for the first time in a while. Mason was fighting a smile, lips twitching, and Corey was watching the two of them like they were some sort of tennis match, eyes flickering back and forth.

“Um, thanks,” Theo managed with a cough at the end, “I’m surprised you think so highly of me, Liam.”

Waving his hand, Liam shrugged, “You’ve always come through for me.”

And that was just a little _too_ close to the truth for Theo’s liking, so he stared pleadingly at Allison and thankfully, she changed the subject, successfully getting everyone’s eyes away from him and Liam. 

_Library  
_ _November 1, 2012  
_ _10:50 p.m._

With tests coming up and the first quidditch match even sooner, Brett, Allison, and Theo started spending most nights in the library, trying their best to prepare. Josh, Erica, and Malia joined them pretty much every night, despite not being on the team and having more free time. 

Their biggest test was in Transfigurations on the practical application, historic uses of, and some of the research done on nonverbal spells. They weren’t expected to be able to actually cast one that early in the year, but Theo wanted to get ahead. 

Unfortunately, Transfigurations wasn’t Theo’s strength; he wasn’t quite precise enough for it, words too jumbled or wand motions not _quite_ right. Josh was good at it, though, and when Theo asked for help for the first time second year, he was thrilled to talk with an attentive audience. 

Theo paged through his used copy of _A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration_ and sighed, the same underlined passages still making applicable sense, but understanding the content and executing were far different. Sometimes, Theo hated being a muggle-born with less practice more than anything every time he failed executing nonverbal spells.

Allison tried to tell him that practice makes perfect, but Theo was impatient. He wanted to be good at it immediately like he was with potions and quidditch and herbology. Josh was patient, and though he had the tendency to be pretty arrogant at times, he was shockingly gentle with Theo every time he got frustrated.

“Theo,” he started, grabbing Theo’s hand before he could reach up and start tugging on his hair in frustration, “this shit is really hard and it takes a lot of practice. You’re _just_ starting.”

Slapping his hand away, Theo scowled, “If I can’t get it during Transfigurations, how the hell am I supposed to get it during Defense Against the Dark Arts?”

“Well we still have a few weeks before we get there and you work harder than God, so I’m sure you’ll be fine by then,” Josh reassured, nudging Theo’s shin with his foot under the table.

“I’m an atheist,” Theo retorted, kicking him back, though he couldn’t help but smile despite his frustration.

Josh groaned, “I’m going to kill you.”

Clicking his tongue, Theo replied, “Yeah but then who would listen to you talk without complaint?”

“You always complain,” Josh pointed out, and when he opened his mouth to continue after Theo’s snort, Hayden, the only one of their friends not already there, dropped into the empty chair next to him.

Brett waved his fingers at her, “Finally come to hang out with us again? Did the Hufflepuffs get boring?”

Hayden rolled her eyes and flipped him off, “Fuck off, Brett. No, they didn’t get boring, I just got tired of studying in the common room.”

Theo raised his eyebrows, a bit surprised because Hayden made it very clear that the library was too quiet for her tastes, that she liked the background noise that the common room provided her. Tapping her hand with his pen, he asked, “Is everything okay?”

Her shoulders sagged under his concerned look, and he felt the rest of the table start paying attention to their conversation. She sighed, “I don’t know. It’s felt weird the last week or so in there.”

Josh leaned forward abruptly, “Wait, you felt it too?”

Hayden and a few others at the table, Malia, Erica, and Brett started nodding, all perking up a bit at the topic they’d clearly been wanting to bring up. Admittedly, Theo hadn’t noticed, he hadn’t spent much time in their quarters, more focused on his time with Liam in the library or on the quidditch pitch.

Allison raised her eyebrows, “What do you guys mean?”

“It’s felt,” Malia paused like she was looking for the good description. The rest of the table stayed silent, letting her think, until she finally started speaking again, slowly, “It’s felt cold and dark.”

Which was a weird descriptor. The common room was always dark; the walls and decor were various shades of darker green and black. Not even counting the fact that they were basically in the basement, under the lake.

“No,” Brett interrupted before anyone could criticize her choice, “she’s right. It’s like a heavy dark, not necessarily like the lack of light.”

Hayden nodded eagerly, “Yeah, I feel dread just sitting there for too long, like I’m waiting on something bad to happen.”

“Bad vibes,” Erica agreed, crossing her arms as she looked at Theo, “I don’t know what to do about it.”

Theo wasn’t exactly sure what they thought he’d do about it, but when Allison nodded, seeming to come to a decision, all focus switched to her. Tapping her pen on her forehead, she spoke, “Do you think someone cursed our common room? Like to fuck with us or something. I wouldn’t put it past some of the students here. We could try and figure out the counter curse if so.”

Brett scoffed, “Wouldn’t put it past Gryffindor, maybe trying to throw us off before the first match.”

“That’s really petty, even for them,” Theo countered, shaking his head, “I really doubt it.”

“But it could be the elitists. We all know how much they hate us, judging us based on the last war and some more _notable_ evil witches and wizards,” Josh cut in, voice quiet.

Everyone was avoiding looking at Allison, knowing it was a touchy subject for her. Her grandpa was one of those notable wizards with his loud backing of Voldemort and use of money and manipulation to get out of trouble. She sighed heavily, looking _exhausted,_ “Yeah, it could be that. I know there are people holding grudges.”

“But everyone mostly gets past it after second year after they realize we’re kids like them. I don’t know,” Hayden trailed off, “I feel like a curse that strong would require an older, more experienced wizard.”

An ugly look crossed Josh’s face, “Jackson.”

“No,” Theo denied immediately, “he’s a tool, but he wouldn’t go to those extremes. Cursing our private quarters is conniving, and he’d rather just bother us straight to our faces.”

“Good point,” Josh relented with a sigh and rubbed the back of his neck, “sorry, I just feel on edge, haven’t been sleeping the greatest.”

The look on his face was so dejected, it threw Theo for a loop. Josh was either cheerful or sarcastic, always filled with some sort of energy, and seeing him looking so drained was alarming. Allison reached across the table to shove his shoulder, and at her words, Theo realized he wasn’t the only one uncomfortable by Josh’s unusual demeanor, “Maybe you should try sleeping in my bed.”

His lips curled up in the briefest smile, but the bags under his eyes were still pronounced. Theo couldn’t believe he hadn’t noticed, and he felt a pang in his chest. He’d been a bad friend. A few seconds too late, Josh responded to Allison’s weak joke, “Melissa gave me some sleeping draughts to help, and they have, but it’s been making my dreams weird.”

“Weird how?” Theo asked, tucking Josh’s feet between his under the table.

Josh shrugged, looking uncomfortable at all the attention, “I can’t ever really remember them, but I wake up sweating and just feeling this overwhelming sense of dread.”

Theo clutched his pen tighter, “Me too.”

“What?” Allison asked, surprised.

“I’ve been having them too,” Theo repeated, “I figured maybe it was just unease about nonverbal spells, but maybe not.”

Allison looked at Brett, eyebrows raised, inquiring because all three boys shared a room, and he shook his head, “I’ve been sleeping fine.”

“I’ve felt it,” Hayden told them, lacing her fingers together, “I’m dreaming about people dying. They’re always faceless, but it’s terrifying.”

Erica shifted, leaning in with her voice lowered, “Should we try sleeping in the common room tonight? Maybe it’ll be a strength in numbers thing.”

While Theo loathed the idea of sleeping on the floor, the relief on his friends’ faces was enough to get him on board. So, he relented, agreeing along with everyone else, and Josh stood, “I think I’m ready to go. It’s pretty loud in here and I’m exhausted.”

Everyone leaned back from where they’d all shifted forward to hear each other while using hushed tones for the private conversation. The library had filled up after dinner, lots of students preparing for tests in study groups. Slytherin, as usual, were a bit separated, the other groups filled with several people from each house. 

Theo looked around and saw Scott, Stiles, Isaac, Lydia and Kira at one table. Liam, Corey, Mason, and Alec were at another, and Theo caught the looks Brett and Hayden were sending the table of other kids their age. Like they wanted to be over there too. He felt _terrible_. The other tables in their area were full of people he didn’t recognize, and Theo realized Josh was right, it had gotten loud.

Erica was out of her seat right after Josh, shoving all of her abandoned work into her bag, and eventually, one by one, they all finished up whatever they’d been working on and packed up. Theo waited for everyone to finish, casting one look back in Liam’s direction, only to be startled when he realized Liam was staring right at him.

Liam cocked his head, his gaze questioning as they all left at once. A big part of Theo wanted to tell him about it, see if Liam had any ideas, but it seemed like an in-house problem, and the other boy already had so much of his own going on with classes and quidditch and O.W.L. preparation. He shook his head imperceptibly, turning on his heel to follow his friends.

The trek back to their common room was long, and by the time they made it back, all energy was sapped. Theo grabbed as many sleeping bags and blankets as he could find from the boys’ room to make a pile in the middle of the floor while everyone else changed into pajamas. 

Allison brought some from the girls’ room and placed them down while Theo lit the fireplace. Theo wasn’t sure if it was wishful thinking on his part or not, but as everyone settled in for the night and breathing evening out in the still room, it did feel lighter in there. He fell asleep, hope in his chest.

_Slytherin Common Room_   
_November 2, 2012  
2:35 a.m._

Theo’s sleep was restless, and the third time he woke up, he realized Josh’s was too. His friend had foregone the sleeping draught and curled into Theo’s side, hoping it would be enough, but he suspected that it hadn’t been. Josh was sweating, mumbling under his breath and tugging at Theo’s shirt. 

When he looked around, Theo realized a few of them were sleeping restlessly, no matter how comfortable they’d charmed the sleeping bags to be. It was unsettling, seeing all of them so uneasy, and just as he went to turn over, Brett sat straight up, breathing heavy.

Before he could ask if Brett was okay, a blood curdling shriek _shattered_ the silence. Everyone jolted awake, doors all around the common room flying open as other Slytherin students started pouring toward the door to see what was happening. 

And that’s when Theo realized Erica was missing. He jumped up, heart pounding, and shoved, pushing everyone out of his way to get to her. He almost regretted it when he got there because she was standing, frozen, over the body of a young girl. 

Erica had tears in her eyes and her hands were shaking as she stared down. Theo slowly squatted, not wanting to touch her, but wanting to know if she was still alive. There was blood all over her face, and her eyes were wide open in what looked like fear. The green tie around her neck had been loosened and it looked like she’d been attacked trying to get back from the library.

“Is she-” Erica choked out, and she didn’t finish, but Theo knew what she meant: _is she breathing?_

Inhaling sharply, he looked up and shook his head, “I don’t think so.”

“What do we do?” she muttered, horrified, as Allison pushed her way to the front next to them.

Theo heard her sharp inhale and muttered, “Fuck,” when she realized what she’d walked up on. It looked really bad. Squinting down, not wanting to get any closer, Allison spoke up again, “Guys, this is bad.”

“Thanks, Captain Obvious,” Erica retorted, voice still shaking.

“No,” Allison insisted, “she’s muggle-born.” Her words that time weren’t as quiet and the noise level picked up, and students who could see started passing information back through the crowd as more and more people woke up. The lights in the hallway were dim, and Erica reached for her wand to wordlessly cast _lumos_ for more light.

It was then that the door to the Gryffindor common room flew open and half asleep students walked out, trying to figure out what the noise was. Scott was first, and he almost tripped when he saw them all standing around her. His eyes scanned the crowd, skipping over them at first before his gaze snapped back. Allison tensed and Theo realized he was looking at her, something akin to horror on his face.

For a few long seconds, no one said anything, the sleepy Gryffindor students starting to wake up enough to realize what they thought they’d just walked out on. Jackson let out a low whistle as he took them in, scared but defensive, hovering over the young Slytherin student, wands in hand illuminating the pooling blood in a particularly gruesome way.

Glaring at Jackson for a split second, Scott turned back to face them, “ _What did you do?”_

**Author's Note:**

> i'm also on [tumblr](https://brokenlikea-stitch.tumblr.com/) if you guys want to talk about this
> 
> thanks again!!


End file.
